AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 25
Jasmine
Tyler has my missing earring.
My brain is struggling to process what this means.
He never said anything about the party.But I didn’t dream up the guy who took me home.I know I didn’t.And there’s video.
But in the video, there is only a hand.And I don’t even have a copy of the video, or I could smear his hand with chocolate and make a comparison.
Forcing myself to think logically and not jump to what seems like the obvious conclusion, I replay what he said in the truck.Mason might’ve left it.
Was Mason’s dad the guy at the party?Kent never said a word about it.
Staring at my front door, trying to remember what to do with my keys, I listen to the little voice inside me, the one who was right about what happened that night.
Tyler is my mystery man.
Emotions yank me in multiple directions, and I’m not sure if I should cry or squeal.
All this time, and I didn’t know.
I push open my front door, feeling like I’m moving through quicksand.Then I glance back to ensure he’s still there.
Standing on the bottom step, Tyler wipes his eyes.“Should I come in?”
The despair etched on his face spears through my fog.That’s when I realize how little I’ve said out loud.“I should use my words.I tell my preschoolers to do that all the time.”I step aside and motion for him to come in.“I’m sorry I just walked away.I’m just...”I’m embarrassed, confused, happy, but mostly shocked.“Seeing that earring...surprised me.”
He reaches for me.“You know me, Jasmine.I’d never cheat on you.I’m not sure how that earring got into my truck.”
“I know.”I tug him down the hall and to my room, then point to the bed.“I need to show you something.”
He eases himself onto the mattress but tracks my movements as I walk to my dresser.A few words would set his mind at ease, but I need him to understand my reaction.Letting him have a taste of the same shock is the best way I know how to do that.
I open my small, wooden jewelry box and pull out the unmatched earring.With it clutched in my fist, I stand in front of him.
“I lost that earring several months ago.”I open my hand.“The night you drove me home from the party.”I keep out of arm’s reach because hurt and maybe a little anger are mixed in my swirl of emotions.
All those months of wrestling with not knowing the events of that night, and the whole time Tyler knew.He knew and didn’t say anything.
“You never said a word.”
Gingerly, he sets the found earring in my hand, reuniting my favorite pair.“You didn’t recognize me.”He holds my gaze.“And I wasn’t sure how to bring it up.Until last night, I wasn’t sure if you were drunk or drugged.Not saying anything avoided that awkward conversation.Then too much time passed, and it seemed weird to bring it up.But that’s why I asked you to go to breakfast.So that I could tell you.When you didn’t know, it didn’t seem to matter because we...”He drags his hands down his face.“We’re happy together.Aren’t we?”
I give a small nod, but it’s almost instinct.“I’ve spent months wondering about that night.”
Genuine pain flickers in his eyes.“After we left the party, when we stopped for food on the way to your house, you told me you’d meet me at the same restaurant the following evening.I showed up and waited for over an hour before giving up and heading home.A week later, I went to your house, but you’d moved.Your neighbor wouldn’t even give me your name.So I thought of you as Bottle Caps because when you walked inside that night, you shouted ‘bottle caps’ after the loud crash.”He drags his hands on his jeans.“I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up.”
“I accidentally dumped a tray full of them that I’d been sorting.”I cross my arms, more to hold myself together than to wall him off.Hearing how he sought me out challenges the labels I had put on me growing up.“And I doubt the neighbor even knew my name.She never spoke to us.”
“Hoping I could get a message to you by talking to Ingrid, I went back again.And I met your other neighbor.She gave me your name.I left a note with her, hoping it would find its way to you.”
“I didn’t know her.”
“I’m not surprised because she got your names off mail that was misdelivered to her house.If you ever bump into her, don’t mention that I told you.”
I step closer to him.“You tried to find me.”
